What struck us about these early reviews is how much more uniformly positive they are than the first iPhone reviews. Of course, glowing reviews from Apple's privileged few won't guarantee success for the iPad, but it certainly can't hurt. We are predicting that the iPad will be sold out for a very long time to come.

"In fact, after a week with the iPad, I’m suddenly wondering if any other company is as committed to invention as Apple. Has any other company ever demonstrated a restlessness to stray from the safe and proven, and actually invent things?"

"When Apple looks at a fingertip, they see a warm, living thing that can feel. They don’t see a poor substitute for a mouse."

"They create the iPad. The iPad user experience is instantly compelling and elegant. It’s not every computer and every function. It’s a computer that’s designed for speed, mobility, and tactile interaction above all other considerations."

"For the past week or so, I have been testing a sleek, light, silver-and-black tablet computer called an iPad. After spending hours and hours with it, I believe this beautiful new touch-screen device from Apple has the potential to change portable computing profoundly, and to challenge the primacy of the laptop. It could even help, eventually, to propel the finger-driven, multitouch user interface ahead of the mouse-driven interface that has prevailed for decades."

"I was impressed with the iPad’s battery life, which I found to be even longer than Apple’s ten-hour claim, and far longer than on my laptops or smart phones. For my battery test, I played movies, TV shows and other videos back-to-back until the iPad died. This stressed the device’s most power-hogging feature, its screen. The iPad lasted 11 hours and 28 minutes, about 15% more than Apple claimed."

"I had my doubts, too. So, when Apple provided me with an iPad a week ago, I was curious to see which side was closer to the truth. After playing with the sleek tablet for much of the last week, I have no doubt that the techies were wrong and Steve Jobs was right."

...as with the iPhone, Apple pulled off a remarkable balancing act in that it has designed the iPad in such a way that in can simultaneously appeal to both newbies and nerds. For low-tech users looking for an affordable entry-level PC, the iPad is a computer without all the distractions. For example, when my family outfitted my 90-year-old grandfather with a new computer a few years ago, he was constantly thrown for a loop by small frustrations like one window being hidden behind another. Had an iPad been available then, it would have been a perfect way to connect him to email, the Web and the drawing software he grew to love. For the tech-savvy with $500 to drop on a gadget, the iPad offers a convenient way to consume and enjoy digital media without being tethered to a computer all day.

"Tapping and swirling my way through iBooks (the store includes free, public domain titles in addition to the $9.99-$12.99 bestsellers), and iPad native apps provided at launch such as the spectacular, game-changing Marvel Comics app (crisp, lucid art, the ability to navigate frame-by-frame, rendering spoilers down the page obsolete), the Epicurious recipe browser, and the news browsing app by Reuters (free app in which video is, again, a seamless delight), the idea hits. This is what we wanted e-books to be all along. Rich, nimble, and dense with image and sound and navigability, right there inside the flow of the story. And this is what we wanted the web to feel like all along. We just want it to work, and we don't want to be aware of the delivery method while we're enjoying what's delivered."

"Gaming possibilities are profound. Accelerometer-driven games like the Real Racing HDiPad app ($9.99) available at first release thrill in a new way, like when I first held a Wii. There's something about tilting and steering and braking with a device you hold in your hands, just like a steering wheel, that's so much more viscerally pleasing than a big old shelf-bound console."

Reader Comments (2)

Hey, great roundup, thanks. The mention of playing games that use the accelerometer on the iPad is very interesting -- I have a hard time imagining how it feels simply based on the iPhone (the size difference will be a big deal). I'll find out soon!

(BTW, I think you mean "certainly can't hurt" not "certainly can't help" in the first paragraph. :) )